Holding court in the kitchenEmpoderamiento por el pan

Holding court in the kitchen

While speculation on the future of Governor Andrew Cuomo is grist for the political mill, it was the state’s Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul who recently had new horizons on her mind.

Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul (center) visited the Hot Bread Kitchen.

“I think I have a future career,” she shared during a recent visit to East Harlem.

She spoke as she helped to roll dough, aided by the expert hands of bakers at Hot Bread Kitchen’s facilities at La Marqueta on June 29th.

The facilities at La Marqueta operate 24 hours a day.

Hochul, who was accompanied by fellow members of state government including Deputy Secretary for Labor Elizabeth De León Bhargava, explained said she had been attempting to schedule a visit to the site for several months, as part of an effort to learn about best practices for supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs. Hot Bread Kitchen offers a six-month paid training program exclusively for low-income women that prepares them for careers in artisan bread baking.

Participants also receive educational courses such as English and math, resume help, and job placement assistance.

“At the end of six months, we have more calls for talent than we can fill,” said Jessamyn Rodríguez, Chief Executive Officer of Hot Bread Kitchen.

“Women go and they interview for those jobs, and they’re very successfully hired because they have so much deep knowledge around baking,” she said.

Hochul works the dough.

Founded by Rodríguez in 2008, Hot Bread Kitchen has run out of La Marqueta since 2010.

The “Bakers in Training” program accepts about 100 women per year, most of them from Northern Manhattan and about 50 percent of them foreign-born, said Rodríguez.

Women are trained to make 75 different bread and pastry products, which are then sold at Hot Bread Kitchen’s La Marqueta store, and at more than a dozen greenmarkets across the city.

During her visit, Hochul donned a small hair net, chatted with program participants, and got to work rolling dough.

She called Hot Bread Kitchen’s leadership “absolutely visionary” and said the business model could work elsewhere.

The historic market in East Harlem.

“There’s no reason why we can’t be doing this in other corners of the state,” she said.

In 2011, Hot Bread Kitchen launched HBK Incubates, to support the growth of startup businesses.

Yum.

Also run out of La Marqueta, the incubator site features nine rentable kitchen spaces that Harlem businesses can book online.

It gives small food businesses a more viable workspace for creating their products, Rodríguez said, as many startup owners are forced to work out of their home.

“[They] can come here without the expense of equipment and have all the materials they need,” said Hochul.

Incubator clients are also given assistance with business development and marketing.

HBK incubator members Christina Bhan and Paula Barbosa, creators of My Sweet Brigaideiro, used the incubator in 2012 to bake their Brazilian treats (they resemble chocolate truffles), and began to sell them online and in restaurants all over the city.

“We are both Brazilians and we grew up eating brigadeiros at every birthday party,” explained Barbosa. “We realized we didn’t have many available here, so we decided to create Mysweet.com.”

The sweets led the creators to partner with Haagen Dazs, establish a shop in Brooklyn, and sell their treats at Whole Foods and FreshDirect.

“Getting into the HBK incubator program let us know that we had the right product and put us in the right direction,” affirmed Barbosa.

HBK Incubates has been bolstered by funding from the City Council and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

“Right here, we have a resource that is investing in our local entrepreneurs and giving them the support and technical assistance to work and hire forward within our own neighborhood,” said Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito in 2012 during a “baguette-cutting” ceremony that highlighted the facilities. “Our local entrepreneurs can really strengthen and diversify our economic base.”

Both the bakery and incubator operate at La Marqueta 24 hours a day.

“I love the ripple effect, how small ideas are nurtured here to help them really emerge to be able to start their own business,” remarked Hochul. “It’s all about jobs, and they’re creating jobs here.”